The Long Run
by Miss Mairin
Summary: Hinata and Kageyama are late for class and run into each other - quite literally. This leads to a long string of running into each other and being tardy.
1. Chapter 1

The Long Run

Beep! Beep! Beep!

"5 more minutes," the teenager grumbled into the bed, throwing a pillow at the alarm clock to shut it off. He laid there for well over five minutes, finally groaning and dragging himself out of bed. He made his way across the room to his dresser and picked up the alarm clock off the ground, re-positioning it on top of the piece of furniture. After a few seconds of standing there in front of the clock, the time finally registered in his mind.

"Shit!" He yelled, dropping the clock in panic. The redhead quickly did the math in his head, if the last school bell rang at 8:00am sharp, and it took him 15 minutes to walk there, and the current time was 7:49… Damn it!

He ripped through his room, finding the least dirty outfit he could see and rushed to put it on. Dashing past the bathroom with socks and shoes in his hands, he debated whether or not to brush his teeth, but eventually went against it. He would just have a couple mints during school, considering the teen had already been late twice before, a third tardy would mean detention.

Shoving his socks onto his feet, he ripped the door open and dashed outside, half-running as he pushed his shoes onto his feet as well, and slung his backpack on. All that was left was to run for his life to school, which, he checked his watch, started in six minutes.

He sprinted on the sidewalk, cutting corners, jumping over boxes (and for some reason, cats), not slowing down for anything. Soon enough, he was nearing the school campus. Breathlessly, he checked his watch again as he kept running: two minutes!

If the boy wasn't too out of breath or anxious about being late, he would've been proud of himself for making it to the campus in a record 4 minutes. Actually, that didn't keep him from thinking about it, though. He really should've focused on getting to class… So close to the entrance!

CRASH!

"Ow!" the teenager yelped as he felt concrete connect with his body. He looked up quickly to see that he had ran into another teenager, a dark haired boy. The other boy had also ended up on the ground, but was the first to recover and jumped to his feet. He looked around quickly, and held out a hand for the redhead to take.

They both mumbled hurried apologizes and went on their separate ways, both running. The redhead chuckled, feeling better that he wasn't the only one about to be late. He glanced at his watch as he continued his sprint to the classroom, about 45 seconds left… He took the stairs two at a time, and ran down the hallway, to the classroom in the exact middle between the two staircases. He was so focused on not being late, he didn't notice another impediment on his journey.

CRASH!

"Again?!" Two male voices groaned as they glared at each other. It was the same dark haired boy that he had run into not even a minute earlier.

"Stop running into me, you idiot!" the other teenager scoffed and opened the door to the classroom - the same one!

"Hey!" the redhead protested, "It's totally your fault!"

He shoved himself in front of the dark haired guy, the door still wide open, determined not to be late.

"Get out of my way!" They shouted simultaneously, shoving each other in an effort to get into the classroom before the bell rang. The redhead noted that the entire class, including the teacher, was watching them intently. "I can't be late again!"

BRRRING!

Just like that, the two teenagers froze in spot. They looked at their teacher pleadingly, they were there, just not in the classroom! The teacher was fighting to hold back a giggle, while the rest of the class wasn't trying at all.

"Sorry, Kageyama and Hinata," he said with a slight laugh. He continued in a kind voice, "I guess I'll be seeing you two in detention after school, huh?"

"Okay, Mr. Sawamura," Hinata sighed in defeat, walking off to his seat. When Kageyama didn't respond, Hinata glared at him.

"Fine," he huffed before stalking off to his seat. When he passed Hinata, he grumbled, "I don't like you," just loud enough for him to hear.

"I don't feel much better about you," Hinata protested, turning away from him to face the front of the classroom. He decided he would try to pay the most attention as possible, in order to ignore the jerk that got him a detention.

* * *

><p>Kageyama plopped into a random chair, slinging his backpack on the floor. He groaned out loud, though no one was there yet to hear his complaint. Looking around, he noticed three things about detention: It smelled like potatoes. The rows of desks weren't even, there were two desks missing. There was literally nothing else.<p>

He sighed. This would be really boring, he decided, and put his head on the cool desk. Maybe, if he closed his eyes, he could ignore the fact he was in detention because of a certain redhead idiot. Of course, Kageyama's makeshift peace didn't last long as he heard a desk screech, like it was being moved.

Cautiously, he opened his eyes, nervous of what delinquents would be in detention that day. But what he was, he was definitely not expecting: A face, mere inches from his own, with bright eyes and a mischievous smile.

He did what anyone would, he screamed.

"Holy crap, you scream like a girl!" Hinata pointed out, dissolving in a fit of giggles. "Don't worry, it's just me."

"'Just you?'" Kageyama scoffed and rolled his eyes. He sat up, stretching slightly and turned to face Hinata who had sat down in front of him. "It's your fault that I'm here right now. "

"No it's not," Hinata replied easily.

"It is too," Kageyama defended, quite uselessly.

"Is not!"

"Is too! Wait," Kageyama paused, "Why are you sitting in front of me? Did you sit there just so you could be obnoxious?"

Hinata blossomed into a grin, something he was immediately wary of. Hinata must be up to something, for sure. "One, I am not obnoxious. Two, so what if I did?"

"No, you're definitely obnoxious," Kageyama drawled. He stretched once more, leaning back in his chair and stretching his legs out.

"I am not obnoxious," he pouted, crossing his arms over his chest. "But seriously, there's no one here to talk to! The teacher isn't even here! Is this even the right room, I mean it smells like french fries or something!"

"Huh," Kageyama said simply. He was quiet for a moment, contemplating the facts Hinata had pointed out. Slowly, it dawned on him, "You may have a point."

"I do, don't I?" Hinata chimed, a bright smile evident on his face. "Even though we're in the same grade and class, I still don't know your name! My name is Hinata Shouyou, what's yours?"

"O-oh…" Kageyama stuttered, turning slightly red. He wasn't used to people talking to him, especially bright, charismatic people like Hinata. "I-I'm Kageyama Tobio."

"It's sort of nice to meet you, Kageyama, even though you made me get a detention," Hinata commented cheerfully. He paused for a moment, obviously thinking about something. "Wait, why haven't I met you before now? We're halfway through our sophomore year… and you're kind of hard to miss."

"Is that an insult?" Kageyama asked irritably.

"No, no, it's not. I was just wondering, cause it's almost halfway through our class, you know?" Hinata mumbled. A few seconds later, he continued talking. "I mean, I haven't seen you with friends or in classes or whatever, but now that I've met you I don't know why I haven't seen you around."

"Huh, yeah, I don't know," he chuckled nervously in response. Subconsciously, Kageyama pulled his limbs to his body protectively. "I've seen you around everywhere," he commented in an effort to steer the conversation away from him and his (non-existent) social life.

"Yeah! I mean, I love talking to people, and I love playing sports, you know?" he explained, his hands moving animatedly. Suddenly, Hinata seemed to deflate, becoming slightly quieter. "Sometimes people tell me I'm really annoying and need to shut up, though," he chuckled humorlessly.

Kageyama stared at him in utter confusion.

"But it's all good," Hinata brightened up immediately, "Cause I love being around people! So even if I think you're kind of a jerk, I like talking to you, Kageyama!"

He tilted his head, a bright smile on his face, eyes twinkling, and looked happily at Kageyama. He sputtered in response, unsure of how to act. He didn't get compliments - if that could be called one? - very often. In fact, Kageyama was actually very pleased with someone enjoying being around him. Of course, he could never say that aloud.

"W-well, you're too are loud, idiot!" he exclaimed in order to cover the fact that he was actually very happy. Unfortunately, it seemed like Hinata was good at reading people. His bright smile dimmed a little bit, and the smile was more filled with soft friendliness, than blinding happiness. He was quiet for a second, before continuing a trivial conversation:

"So… Kageyama, what's your favorite color?"

* * *

><p>"You've got to be shitting me," Kageyama groaned when he saw Hinata in the doorway. He glared at Hinata for a few moments, before shrugging and threatening, "You better get out of my way, Hinata, or so help me..."<p>

Hinata giggled and shook his head, happily blocking the doorway into the classroom. He stretched his arms across and his legs were also successfully impeding entrance as well.

"Sorry! But you're gonna be late today," he giggled, "And I won't!"

Kageyama looked at the time on his phone, less than a minute until the tardy bell. He sighed, really not wanting another tardy, and gave up. It wasn't even halfway through the school year, and he had already had 4 tardies. "Alright, I give in. What do you want?"

"Who said I want anything?" he teased.

"Hinata…" Kageyama warned, a fist clenching. "Don't do this."

Hinata quirked his eyebrow, seemingly daring him to do something. He glanced at his watch, ten seconds until the bell… Finally, the last part of his amazing prank! At the last second, he would move and Kageyama wouldn't be late! He counted down from ten in his head, watching Kageyama carefully. At 3 seconds…

"Okay!" Hinata announced and jumped out of the way. He signalled to Kageyama with a grin that he could come in now. Kageyama sighed in relief as he walked through the threshold… only to be met with the late bell.

Hinata's face fell, changing from smugness to panic. He looked from Mr. Sawamura to Kageyama, eyes wide in fear.

"Another detention for you, Kageyama," Mr. Sawamura tsked. Though the teacher had good humor in nearly everything, and even though he could've let Kageyama's tardiness slide, Mr. Sawamura decided with a mischievous glint in his eyes, that no matter how close it was the tardy was, Kageyama and Hinata would always be late.

Kageyama visibly deflated, his face red in both embarrassment and rage. He stalked to his seat, past Hinata, ignoring him completely.

"Wait, Kageyama, I'm sorry," Hinata apologized profusely. "I must've counted something wrong, I didn't want to make you late, it was a prank, I promise! I'm really sorry..."

He looked at his desk intently, ignoring any plea of Hinata's and began his school work. Kageyama sighed, he should've known that Hinata didn't really want to be his friend.

* * *

><p>As soon as the school bell rang, Kageyama grabbed his stuff and slung his backpack on. He made his way to the detention room, his feet dragging the entire way. He shoved the door open, and collapsed into a desk, where he harshly smacked his head. He groaned once more, settling his head on his arms and closing his eyes. Maybe if he closed his eyes, this entire thing would disappear.<p>

Or, maybe if he closed his eyes, it would get worse.

Kageyama heard the door open, but chose to ignore it. It was probably just a random student with detention, like him. (Which would make considering he was in the detention classroom.) He chose to ignore every single sound the student made until he heard their voice.

"Hi, Kageyama," a shy voice commented. "Can I sit next to you?"

"No," he replied gruffly, though it was muffled through his arms. "Go home. You don't have detention, idiot." Kageyama frowned when he heard the student plop in the desk next to him, and turned his head the other way, in a way to ignore them.

"I'm flattered you could know who I am just by hearing my voice," the male teased. He turned his desk to face Kageyama, for what purpose, he didn't know.

"It's not that difficult, Hinata," Kageyama retorted. He shoved his face further into the safety of his long arms. "You have a really distinct voice."

"Is that a compliment?" Hinata chuckled, and Kageyama could only imagine the silly grin on his face.

"No. It's an insult," he grumbled. "Why are you here?"

It was silent for a few moments, as if Hinata was unsure of what to say. Curious, Kageyama looked up to see him biting his lip and looking very nervous. Though it was probably rude of him, Kageyama laughed at the fact that Hinata - King of Talking - was speechless.

"Don't laugh at me," Hinata snapped, effectively silencing the laughs.

"Sorry," Kageyama chuckled. "It's not that I was making fun of you, it's just…" he paused, thinking the explanation through. "It's like, you always know what to say, but you were speechless. It's not nice but honestly it made me feel better. Not even the Great Hinata Shouyou is perfect, huh?"

"I…" he hesitated, "Well… if it makes you feel better."

"It does," Kageyama smirked. "But you never answered my question, why are you here?"

"I don't need to be here anymore," Hinata pouted and turned away from him. "Apparently making fun of me makes you feel better, so my job's done!" He chuckled, though it didn't sound very happy.

"What?" Kageyama asked, confused. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Hinata looked at Kageyama out of the corner of his eyes, as if to say 'are you an idiot?' Kageyama blinked, still confused to what's going on. He was just about to ask, when Hinata interrupted him.

"I was here to make you feel better!" Hinata blurted, and seconds later his face turned red. Shyly, quieter, he continued, "I was here because I felt bad. If I made you get detention, I'll serve detention with you."

"Wait, did you actually get detention?" Kageyama asked, finally putting the pieces together. He snorted when Hinata nodded and pouted some more. "No way! What did you do?"

"I skipped half of my seventh hour," Hinata explained proudly. "I figured if you had detention for being late cause of me, I'd get one as well. I have Mr. Sawamura for seventh as well."

"You're an idiot," Kageyama commented, a small smile playing on his lips.

"That's not an insult, is it?" Hinata grinned as Kageyama shook his head.

The pair was silent for a while, looking around the room. It still smelled like potatoes, and the desks were even more out of sorts than the day before. The detention teacher for that day wasn't there either.

"Hey… Hinata?" Kageyama called, and continued when Hinata turned to him. "Don't you think this is weird?"

"What's weird?"

"This… entire thing," he explained, using his arms to indicate the room. "Yesterday, there weren't any other students, right? And the teacher never showed up…"

"You're right," Hinata gasped. "And it smells like potatoes!"

"Yeah," Kageyama nodded, "It does smell like potatoes. And today, no students, no teachers again. Are we in the right room?"

"Room 143, right?" Hinata asked shakily, "That's what Mr. Sawamura told us."

"You don't think…" Kageyama trailed off.

"That we're not really in detention?" He finished. Hinata glanced at the clock on the wall, it was still 3:30. Detention went for another half hour… He stood up suddenly, and stalked out of the room. Kageyama scrambled to follow after him.

"Hinata?" Kageyama asked, "Where are we going?"

"Mr. Sawamura's classroom," Hinata replied, stomping around the school, taking steps two at a time. By the time Kageyama finally made it to the classroom, the door was already wide open, with Hinata inside. He held back a laugh, Hinata was standing with his hands on his hips, trying to seem intimidating.

"Uh, hi, Mr. Sawamura," Kageyama mumbled as he entered the classroom. "We have a couple quest-"

"Damn right we have questions!" Hinata announced, and tapped his foot for added effect. "Did you send us to the wrong detention room?"

The teacher looked up from his papers, and put his pen down. "What led you to ask such a question?"

"Well, the room - "

"The room smells like potatoes!" Hinata interrupted. "There are never any students, and there isn't a teacher, ever! And the desks are messed up! Did I mention it smells like potatoes?"

"Stop interrupting me," Kageyama growled. Hinata looked at him pointedly, and rolled his eyes.

"You don't say things quickly enough," Hinata replied.

"You say things too quickly! And you talk way too much!" Kageyama defended, annoyance laced in his voice.

"If you two would shut up," Mr. Sawamura commented, "I would explain what's going on."

The two teenagers glared once more at each other, but were eventually quiet. They turned to the teacher, curious to what was happening.

"Thank you. Now, as I was saying, a couple of teachers and I have noticed you two." At this, Hinata and Kageyama looked confused, glancing at each other carefully. "I know for a fact that you two are good students, and for the most part follow the rules. As for your personalities…" Mr. Sawamura trailed off with a knowing smile, "The teachers have noticed and agree that you two need to be friends."

"What?" Kageyama asked, still confused. "How could you make it so we became friends?"

"Yeah, what Kageyama said," Hinata echoed.

"Well, we couldn't. But if a situation came along, we were supposed to help you along."

"I see," Kageyama murmured, realization evident on his face. "We weren't really in trouble, you just wanted us to get to know each other."

Mr. Sawamura nodded.

"Well, wait," Hinata countered, "What was the room we were in?"

The teacher chuckled, still smiling. "Honestly, that was just a deserted room. Sometimes teachers go there to eat lunch, so that's why it smells like potatoes. However… I will have to see who keeps eating potatoes," he mused.

"So, what now?" Kageyama asked aloud.

"Are we friends?" Hinata wondered.

"No, definitely not," Kageyama said with a smirk. He shoved Hinata playfully, before adding, "You have to earn my friendship!"

"Who says I want your friendship?" Hinata challenged, sticking his tongue out at him. He shoved Kageyama back, before skipping away.

"So, no detention?" Kageyama asked the teacher quickly.

"Nope," he shook his head, "Go follow him."

Kageyama smirked and jogged out the classroom, quickly finding Hinata and racing him out of the school.


	2. Chapter 2

The Long Run

"R-really?" Hinata asked breathlessly, with his hands on his knees. He eyed Kageyama carefully, he was leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed and he was wearing a leather jacket. "Do you know how hard I had to run to get here?"

"I have an idea," Kageyama smirked, blocking the doorway like Hinata had done the day before. "Karma, don't you think?"

"I don't know about that, but one thing I do know…" Hinata paused, looking at Kageyama again before giggling, "Is that you look totally ridiculous. What are you, a character from Grease?"

"W-what, no you idiot! I was cold, okay?" He defended himself, still not moving from his spot. Hinata rolled his eyes and moved towards the doorway. Unsurprisingly, Kageyama moved to continue blocking Hinata's entrance. "Oh? You want to go in? I'm sorry, but you'll have to be late."

"Come on, Kageyama," He huffed, "Don't be silly. I know you'll move just in time, so I don't get detention."

"Are you sure?" Kageyama challenged, looking at the time. "There's only 20 seconds left. Do you really think I'll move?"

"I mean, yeah, you're not that rude," Hinata explained before walking closer. There was a few seconds left, and Hinata was expecting Kageyama to move.

But he didn't.

The bell rang.

"Looks like you're late, Hinata," Kageyama grinned and walked to his seat happily. He stood there, dumbfounded that Kageyama had actually done that.

"You're an asshole!" Hinata shrieked, stalking to his desk and didn't even acknowledge that he was late. All he did was wave his hand in the air, signalling to Mr. Sawamura that yes, he knows he got a detention.

Hinata spent the entire class period grumbling and cursing that jerk of a person, Kageyama. The entire class was on edge: the cheerful, bright person was seething; the dark, grumbling person was smiling. The universe had switched, and it was weird.

Very weird.

* * *

><p>Even though Hinata knew that their previous detention room wasn't the real detention room, he headed towards the room, completely annoyed with life. He kicked a desk, just to make sure that all the desks were even more out of order. He angrily opened his backpack and sprayed the entire room with perfume, in order to get rid of the stupid potato smell.<p>

"I have two questions," a voice snapped Hinata out of his anger spell. He turned towards the voice, only to be met with Kageyama. "My first is, where did you get perfume? The second is, does anyone else know you're scary when you're mad?"

"Don't talk to me," Hinata snarled. "Why are you even here? You don't have detention."

"You're right," Kageyama smirked, "I don't. But I figured I should spend it with you, since you spent it with me yesterday."

Hinata gaped at him for a moment, before finding his voice. "I don't know if I should be mad or happy about that."

"Both, probably," he shrugged. He laid his backpack on the floor and slid into one of the crooked desks. "Come on, let's at least be productive. Let's do our homework."

"Okay," Hinata nodded, and moved to sit next to Kageyama. "To answer your questions, I had a feeling we would be getting more detentions. I'm tired of potatoes." Hinata grinned as Kageyama chuckled in agreement. "As for the other…"

"What?" Kageyama asked after a moment.

"Never mind," he shook his head, "It's nothing. Yeah, a couple people know."

"I think it's cool when you're scary," Kageyama commented thoughtfully. He opened his bookbag and got out a binder and some pencils. "I mean, it's really awesome when someone you don't think can do something… does that something, you know?"

Hinata hummed in agreement, getting his homework out as well. He paused, and giggled slightly. "Like you and smiling?"

"Shut up," Kageyama said without much malice, and playfully shoved Hinata off the chair.

"Hey!" he protested loudly from the ground. "That wasn't nice!" Hinata pouted, standing up and sitting down again. He stared at his homework for a solid three minutes, and figured nothing out. Sighing, he slumped in his chair and groaned aloud.

"What?" Kageyama questioned, and looked down at his paper. "Do your homework, Hinata."

"Don't wanna," he whined in response. Suddenly, he sat up, and put his elbows on the desk. With eyes sparkling, Hinata commanded, "Tell me more about yourself!"

"Huh?"

"You know! Like tell me if you like sports, or what food you like!" Hinata exclaimed, bouncing up and down in his seat. "This will be fun, and I'll tell you about myself!"

Kageyama sighed, and closed his text book. He organized his homework before leaning back in his chair. "This is all because you don't want to do your homework, isn't it?"

"That isn't important," he declared, waving his hand in the air. "So tell me!"

"What do you want to know?" Kageyama sighed again, this time in defeat. He watched as Hinata stretched his arms above his head, clearly thinking about what to ask. It was obvious when Hinata came up with a question, as his eyes lit up and he continued his feverish bouncing.

"Okay. Tell me if you play any sports, what your favorite sports are, and what zodiac sign are you?"

"Really? All three of those?" Kageyama asked in exasperation, frowning when Hinata nodded happily. "Um, okay. Well, I play volleyball."

"Do you really?" Hinata interrupted, a gleam in his eyes. Kageyama nodded, and Hinata broke out into a bright smile. "Me too! Though everyone tells me I shouldn't play, cause I'm so short. We should totally play together!"

"Yeah… Sure… Let's do that… " Kageyama muttered, avoiding Hinata's eyes. "That answers the second question, my favorite sport is volleyball. Though I do like baseball. And I'm a Capricorn. Happy?"

"Very much so!" Hinata promised, and clapped his hands together. "What position do you play?"

"I played, uh, play setter," Kageyama mumbled, wincing at his slip up. He only hoped that the other wouldn't notice. However, the way Hinata paused before talking said otherwise.

"That's awesome! I totally wanna be the best spiker ever, even though I'm short. Do you think I can do that?" Hinata asked, a determined yet hopeful look on his face.

"Yeah, you can do that," Kageyama responded quietly, still avoiding his eyes.

"Hey…" Hinata smiled softly, looking at Kageyama. "If something's the matter, you can tell me. I mean, if you want to. I'll listen, I promise."

"It's nothing," he insisted, looking up at Hinata. "Do you have any other questions for me?"

Hinata smiled again, and nodded his head. "Yeah, I do. Can you toss for me?"

"I think I can manage that," Kageyama answered, a shy smile on his face. Hinata blossomed, eyes sparkling and smile lighting up the room, and tackled Kageyama into a hug.

"You're not a total jerk, Kageyama!" Hinata squealed happily.

"Again, I have to ask, is that a compliment or an insult?" he drawled, roughly shoving the redhead off of him.

* * *

><p>Hinata flinched, sitting up quickly in bed, startled by his alarm clock. Breathing heavily, he composed himself and jumped out of bed, skipping over and turning the alarm off. Though he hated waking up earlier than absolutely necessary, he had something to accomplish that day, and he was quite determined to make sure everything worked out.<p>

A quick shower later, he stood in front of the bathroom sink, brushing his teeth. It was actually kind of nice to not have to rush every morning, and worry about being late, he silently marveled to himself. He finished his morning routine with plenty of time to spare, and sat down to have a bowl of frosted flakes. Glancing at the kitchen clock, he stretched and put his dishes in the sink, shuffling back to his room.

It was time to start the first part of Operation:GKTTFM also known as Operation: Get Kageyama To Toss For Him! He ripped a piece of paper out of a notebook and quickly scrawled a note in sharpie on it. Putting his volleyball in his backpack, he shoved the note in his pocket, and just for good measure, took the entire tape roll as well.

He glanced around his room once to see if he forgot anything, but when nothing came to mind, he grabbed his stuff and started his trek to school. Even if it was nice not to rush, it was kind of boring. He had to walk for fifteen minutes to get to school on time, and all he had for entertainment was the scenery. Which, by the way, he had been passing for years now. It was basically burned into his mind by then.

Huffing in annoyance, he broke into a jog. For whatever reason, if only just to speed the scenery up, this tiny change in pace made things slightly less horrifyingly boring. He spread his arms wide, turning his jog into a sprint and enjoyed the small breeze, and laughed. Man, he was glad it was spring. The sun was out and the flowers were blooming, and it was a perfect day for annoying Kageyama into tossing for him, no doubt about it.

For a split second, Hinata felt like the main character in a cheery musical - something like Hairspray or Mamma Mia where they have their arms spread and they sing and dance on the side walk. He fought the urge to sing Good Morning Baltimore and instead focused on getting to school early enough to continue his operation.

He was (kind of) grateful when he saw the school gates. He had nearly gone through the entire lyrics to Dancing Queen. Chuckling, he decided it would be really interesting to see someone's reaction to know that his guilty pleasure were musicals.

Hinata jogged up the stairs, taking them two at a time for no real reason, and stopped happily in front of the classroom door. Unzipping his backpack, he grabbed the volleyball and put it on the ground, making sure it didn't roll away. He glanced at his watch, he had a good five minutes until the bell rang. Fishing through his pockets, he pulled out the roll of tape and the note. He kneeled on the ground, holding the note to the volleyball as he ripped a piece of tape off and successfully taped the note.

He stood up, feeling accomplished. As a last measure, Hinata pushed the ball against the wall, making sure it wouldn't move. He threw his backpack on, and nearly skipped into the classroom. Operation:GKTTFM was a success so far! Now all he had to do was wait… Ugh. Five minutes was a long time to do nothing but wait…

* * *

><p>Kageyama was absolutely determined not to be late again.<p>

However, if he was being completely honest with himself, it might have been because of a certain someone. Really, how dumb was it to get excited over an unspoken rivalry? Very dumb, but he didn't really care.

And that is how Kageyama found himself at school an entire _two minutes _early. He ascended the stairs, slowly to enjoy the moment of beating Hinata to class. When he finally made it to the classroom door, his expression switched from a somewhat happy one to an angry scowl. Someone - really, who could it have been? - left a volleyball in front of the door. With a note attached.

"Damn it, he beat me," Kageyama groaned to no one in particular. Sighing, he bent down and picked up the volleyball. He eyed it suspiciously, as if it could be dangerous, before finally reading the note.

'toss to me after school today?! we won't have detention! … probably!' was scrawled in chicken scratch, and reeked of sharpie. He shook his head, half in annoyance, and half in awe. How can someone try so hard for something so… trivial?

Hinata, that's who.

Sighing yet again, Kageyama entered the classroom and immediately stalked over to Hinata. Before either of them could say anything, the bell rang. Scowling again, Kageyama glares at the redhead.

"You're lucky the bell just rang. I won't throw the volleyball at you," he said, vaguely threateningly. Of course, Hinata seemed entirely unconvinced. Huffing, Kageyama stalked away, quickly calling over his shoulder, "But fine. I'll toss for you."

"Hell yeah!" Hinata screeched, punching his fist in the air. He ignored the dirty looks from both Kageyama and Mr. Sawamura to celebrate getting the most stubborn person ever to agree to something. "Operation:GKTTFM is a success!"

"What," Kageyama asked and turned his head, but it was somehow more of a statement. Laughing, he scoffed, "Did you actually say the letters? Why didn't you just say the entire thing?"

"Because it sounds so much more cool!" he explained, rolling his eyes like it was obvious.

Before either of them could slip into an actual argument, the teacher chuckled. "Alright boys, be quiet, it's time to start class."

Of course, to get the last word in, Hinata stuck his tongue out. Kageyama only scoffed.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Kageyama," Hinata called softly. The two had been doing simple volleyball skills in near silence for the past ten minutes. Though it could have gone worse, it could have gone much, much better. Either Kageyama was really nervous to toss to him, or he hadn't touched a volleyball in ages. Hinata was pretty confident it wasn't the nerves.<p>

"What?" He demanded angrily, but Hinata didn't miss the slight twitch and step back. It was interesting: everyone thought Hinata was dense, but it was the opposite, he was incredibly perceptive. Scowling, Kageyama defended himself fiercely, "I'm just rusty, okay?! I haven't played… in a while."

"How long is a while?" Hinata asked gently. He took the volleyball from Kageyama's grasp and sat down on the ground. When he didn't move nor answer, Hinata sighed, "I'm not going to judge you for anything, mmkay? I promise."

Kageyama's expression melted from an angry grimace to a slightly sad frown. He sighed, giving up, and plopped down on the ground next to Hinata. Laying back, he covered his face with his arm and groaned.

"Kageyama?" Hinata prompted.

"I haven't played volleyball in a long time, Hinata," he explained bitterly. It was a little muffled through his arm, but nothing that wasn't unable to be deciphered. "I quit in the beginning of freshman year. In middle school, I was considered really good, and it went to my head."

"What do you mean?"

"I thought I was better than everyone else," Kageyama spat. Sighing, he was silent for a moment, composing himself. He spoke again, his voice laced with regret, "I wasn't, Hinata! I really wasn't. I told everyone that they had to keep up with me, be faster if they wanted to hit my tosses. They had to get better if they wanted to be on my level, that's what I thought."

"Kageyama… I know that's not nice, but I don't - I don't see why that made you quit?" he asked, a tad confused.

"That didn't, it was just kind of a back story, I guess. I didn't quit, either," he revealed sadly. This time, he moved his arm down and wiped at his face angrily. "It was more of being… pushed off? I don't know. All I know is everyone hated me. They all hated me, and for good reason."

Hinata turned slightly, and pulled his knees to his chest. Unsure of what to do, he awkwardly patted Kageyama's head. The giggle that was earned made them both a little bit happier. "Hey, what happened? Exactly?"

"We were at a really important game, like regionals or something," he explained immediately. He definitely wasn't holding back anymore. "Everyone already dealt with me enough by then, and in the second set, I tried tossing to someone. But they weren't there. They were literally not there, they didn't try to hit my toss. They gave up, and I was taken out of the game. I quit after that."

"Huh," Hinata acknowledged, putting his head on his knees in concentration. A few moments later, something he had wanted to ask came to mind, "So… what about your tossing just now?"

"What about it?"

"It wasn't all because you hadn't played in a while," he guessed, tilting his head slightly. "It was also because you were scared to toss to me, right? Because of that experience."

"I don't know, I guess so," Kageyama huffed in reply. "Does it matter?"

Hinata nodded enthusiastically and stretched his legs out over Kageyama. "It totally does matter!" he announced, jumping up to a standing position. He leaned over his friend and held out a hand to pull him up.

"Do you really want me to ask why it matters?" Kageyama snorted, and took his hand to stand up, groaning when his arm was nearly pulled out of it's socket.

"No, because I'll tell you anyway," he singsonged in reply. Happily skipping away, he grabbed the volleyball and threw it to Kageyama. "It matters 'cause you'll never have to worry about me not hitting your tosses!"

"Wh - what?" he spluttered, trying to force his face to definitely _not become red please don't._ "Don't sound so… I don't know, sentimental or something! I totally do not worry about that!"

"Right," Hinata replied, rolling his eyes, and ran back to stand in front of the volleyball net. "Now toss to me!"

Kageyama scoffed and also rolled his eyes, but eventually gave in. He walked towards the other teenager, and took a deep breath. Slowly but surely, he brought the volleyball over his head and gently threw it in the air, instantly positioning his hands in a triangle and his fingers to the shape of the ball. It came down, and instead of trying to get Hinata to keep up with him like they had previously tried, he stamped down his ugly pride and matched himself with Hinata. The second the ball touched his fingers, his mind had already determined the optimal area to toss the ball for the spiker. And as soon as it touched his fingers, the ball was tossed to the exact area his mind had decided.

Everything was in slow motion. It was so cliche, but it was so true. Kageyama's paranoia that no one would be there to hit his toss, it was real. He closed his eyes in fear after tossing, afraid that Hinata would miss. Or worse, not even try.

BAM!

Kageyama's eyes flew open and he turned around instantly. He searched for the ball on the ground near them, but found it on the other side of the net. Glancing back up to Hinata, he studied his face carefully. Wide eyes, open mouth, and he was holding his hand gently. Was he hurt?

"OHHHH MY GOSH, KAGEYAMA!" Hinata squealed, jumping up and down happily.

Nope, he wasn't hurt.

"What, did you hit it?" Kageyama asked, still unable to believe what had happened. The sound was beautiful, he had missed it so much.

"Yes! Oh my goodness yes yes yes I hit it and oh wow it felt great! You are SO cool, Kageyama!" he gushed in reply, still jumping around. Suddenly, his happy expression turned into a serious one, and he turned to face Kageyama. Hinata lifted his arm slowly, and pointed at him, demanding, "One more."

"Okay," Kageyama answered easily. He ducked under the net to grab the volleyball, hiding his face to keep his smile hidden. Who knew what Hinata would do if he caught one of Kageyama's famous smiles.

He tossed to Hinata again, and again, and again. They collapsed on the floor, not exactly exhausted, but happily satisfied. Hinata threw his legs over Kageyama's stomach and giggled. They talked about trivial things, passing the time, and a few minutes later Hinata demanded to be tossed to again.

Maybe, just maybe, Kageyama didn't have to punish himself any longer. Maybe he could go back to playing volleyball. Maybe he wouldn't have to hold himself back anymore. Maybe - no, definitely, - he could get used to this.


End file.
